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The title of Friday evening’s concert by Orchestra Nova, heard at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Hillcrest, was “Haydn Seek.” But that witty wordplay, which would have pleased the composer, a lover of jokes both verbal and practical, was a case of treasure hiding in plain sight, as the orchestra rolled out an all-Haydn program ranging over three decades of the composer’s long (1732-1809) and fruitful life.

Approaching the midpoint of its first season under a new name, the ensemble formerly known as the San Diego Chamber Orchestra is playing with a focused, even fierce, energy that should propel it into its rebranded future with confidence. If that energy did not always have time for a final coat of polish on the music played at this concert, it nevertheless infused it with a sense of occasion and excitement.

Music Haydn may never have heard in performance opened the concert, an overture usually known as L’anima del filosofo, or The Soul of the Philosopher, which may have been written for an operatic telling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. This is a small gem, beautifully crafted by a nearly 60-year-old Haydn, and played with crisp articulation and careful attention to details of phrasing.

The orchestra’s principal cellist, Erin Breene, was the soloist in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major. Breene possesses two things that every cellist strives for: a noble, refined tone, and an extraordinary legato. The only element missing from this performance was a sense of urgency that — as elegant as it is — Haydn’s music must have if it is to transcend mere prettiness.

Jung-Ho Pak, the orchestra’s artistic director and conductor, introduced the Symphony No. 45 (“Farewell”) with the familiar anecdote of the musicians leaving the stage one by one at the first performance as a way of telling their employer, Prince Esterházy, that they had stayed long enough at his Hungarian estate and wanted to go home to Vienna.

After a strong beginning, however, the playing became more and more ragged, with balanced dynamics suffering most acutely, and a sense of hurry replacing the kind of brisk emphasis that might have underlined Haydn’s always-surprising imagination.

San Diego writer Marcus Overton frequently reviews classicalmusic and opera for the nioin-Tribune.